www.drmirkin.com/weekly-ezine

The link above will take you directly to Dr. Mirkin’s page. If you enter your email, he will send you his ezine weekly. Since I have referenced his postings a number of times, I thought it was only proper for me to direct you to his page. I find something interesting each week from his ezine.

April 27th,   Wednesday,   10 p.m.

Above  (Tap address.) is my new favorite picture taken by Arlene today and submitted to her Camera Club photo contest.

This blog is getting a little crazy.  My son, Rob, posted stuff all over Facebook and Twitter today about my blog.  The number of people who checked in rose from a high of 22 – at this moment standing at 270 hits.  I am shocked!  I hope these folks come back and keep reading.  Exciting. ……

I  read a report this week which cited studies that have proven that running invigorates the brain, especially and more importantly the frontal lobe. That is an area that controls rational thinking and problem solving.  So, as I was running my 5 miles this evening I let my brain wander and came up with some interesting thoughts.  I guess I can say that some of those crazy things I’ve been writing are the product of  an invigorated brain.  YES, I ran another five miles  this evening , once again to my surprise.  I guess I am getting back to where I was  in St.Augustine ugustine last month. Remarkably the Achilles tendon discomfort for the entire run was at 0. I will have a word to say about that in a moment. The time for a total run which was quite similar to yesterday was 56:28.   But the last four miles there in 42:15 with a final mile of 9:28.  This was one of those really exhilarating runs in beautiful 60 degree weather and overcast sky . I had that floating feeling throughout with no leg soreness at all.

Now I will share my thoughts on why my Achilles tendons were not aching this morning or during the run today.  Yesterday I had run 5 miles on the hard roads.  I was certain I was going to have sore and tight tendons  this morning and have to take the day to recover.  However, I woke this morning and had almost no discomfort in the Achilles area on either leg for the first time in weeks. I allowed my frontal lobe to contemplate this remarkable turn of events as I ran today. And I came to the conclusion that the answer had to be ice. Or should I say the absence of ice.  For the first time in weeks I did not ice my Achilles tendons after my run.  What made me change my procedure?   I have reread Dr. Mirkin’s post about ice a number of times.  In his article he cites 10 years of research that have proven that ice has no impact on healing or recovery.  Ice will reduce pain while it is applied.  But ice has the opposite effect according to Dr. Mirkin’s studies. It actually prevents or impairs the healing process. You would have to read the article to fully understand the physiological and scientific, biological reasons for this.  But the data and research suggest that it is true. So, yesterday I did not ice my Achilles tendon and today I had the most comfortable run with no discomfort in my lower legs.  Can one day prove that ice is a deterrent to recovery and healing?  No.  However, I have run 10 miles in the last 2 days and my tendons right now are feeling fine, and no icing.  There is one variable that I have not controlled for and that is speed. The miles I have run in the past two days have been in the 10 to 12 minute  range except for the last mile today.   I will continue to monitor, and I will report on the results after I have run some 8 minute mils and some pickups at a faster pace.

I am thinking about a non impact day for the morrow.

I thought that passed through my wandering brain along my 55 minutes of running tonight was about the concept of “The Slapper.”  I was reminded of this phrase while speaking with Coach Jim O’Connor at the Somerset County championship meet last Saturday.  When Jimmy my assistant we always had a lot of fun with the boys because they had come up with the concept of “The Slapper.”   I cannot remember which runner came up with the term,  but he described an opponent who was racing behind him and he could hear him slapping the ground with each stride.  So this phrase became a common source of derision on our team.  Of course anyone who slapped the track when they were running, either a team member or an opponent,  immediately became known as a Slapper.  But over time the word grew and the concept expanded to encompass anyone who we felt was an inferior athlete. It would be not uncommon to hear someone say when we arrived at a meet, “There’s no way these guys are going to beat us, they are a bunch of Slappers.”  And of course to call a teammate a slapper was a huge insult.  What actually made me think of it today was I had been complimenting myself on the feeling of floating and taking veritably silent foot strikes during the run.  Now of course,  I never encouraged guys to  deride opponents or teammates, but I think perhaps the  idea of the negative meaning of slapping had a positive impact on my runners.  It may have in fact helped to improve the efficiency of their running when they made specific attempts to run softly and not pound the track or the trail.  So the the concept of The Slapper survived a couple of decades, and Jim O’Connor and I laughed on Saturday remembering how much fun we had hearing kids talking about Slappers back in the North Hunterdon days.  Then one of the triple jumpers we were watching came slapping loudly down the runway and both of us looked at each other and said, “Slapper .”

Finally, I want to thank everyone who read my posts today and liked and shared my plus70runner.com blog on Facebook and on Twitter. The number of hits is astounding to me and I hope that it continues. It would be my dream come true to have this site become a place of discussion among all runners. senior, middle-aged, young adults and teenagers.  I will continue to tell my story. And I would love to hear anyone else’s stories.

Tell me your stories.

Stats

I-Mad  –   1 today!

a.m. HR – missed

Weight  – 152#

Sleep – 7 hrs

Workout – 5 miles  in  56:22

   1 –  16:15  walk & jog

2 – 10:55.   3 –  11:13,

4- 10:52,  5 – 9:28!

HR after run  126 BPM

April 26th,  Tuesday,   10:30 p.m.

Stormy skies today kept me away from the track meet at Liberty High School this afternoon.   I waited all afternoon and finally saw a  break in the clouds.   I did manage to get in a 5-mile run to my surprise around the neighborhood.  The miles did get quicker as I got more warmed up.  Throughout the run my quadriceps were feeling sore and achy. It finally occurred to me that this was the obvious result of my first bike ride on the boardwalk yesterday.  Once I realize that, I stopped worrying about it.  The temperature was about 55 degrees, total overcast sky and a gentle mist in the air.  It was quite pleasant running.  The five miles took exactly one hour. The splits are posted below in the workout.   Along the way I began thinking about my previous argument lauding the benefits of so-called junk miles.  Running miles today just at or under 12 minutes made me conclude that I needed a more positive name for these kinds of miles.  So I decided to make a acronym from the benefits that I stated when writing of junk miles.
Continue reading No more Junk for me. →

April 25th,  Monday,   9:30 p.m.

Broke out the bike today.

Pumped up the tires on the bike,  threw it in the Escape  and headed for the Belmar boardwalk for the first ride of the spring.  Today there was a pretty strong wind blowing from the south as I measured the new Belmar boardwalk to be 1.3 miles each way.  I finished two laps for a total of 5 miles.  That was enough for the first time on the bike in months.  The rides south were a little rough into the wind,  much more pleasant and easy on the legs  cruising north with the wind at my back.   It is nice to have the bike again as an option going forward on the days when my legs need a break.  In the early days of my training down in Atlantic City I rode the bike frequently for 10 to 12  miles along Atlantic Avenue from Atlantic City to Longport and back.  I  have decided to use the bike and  pool on alternate days from now on until my left foot and Achilles tendon are totally healed.  I have the time.   I don’t have any competitions planned, and I can stay aerobically fit with 4 workouts a week on the cinders  or rubber and 3 days off my legs.

Tomorrow I will be going down to Liberty High School to watch and maybe help time at the tri-meet..  I will dress out and get some work in on the rubber  track.  Maybe a dozen or so 100m strides in the course of a 3 mile run.

Great weather for getting fit!  Happy training….

Stats –

I-MAD –    3.5

WEIGHT  152#

a.m. HR –  54

Sleep – 7 hours   +  1 hour nap

Workout  –  bike 5 miles

  + paint  back door trim  & back steps

April 24th,   Sunday,    11 p.m.

Comfortable Quality at Dusk

Got out to the cinders  today about 7:30 p.m. after a day of work around the house stripping and painting.  This evening was pretty ideal with 58 degree temperature,  calm wind and the sun fading behind the trees.  My legs were not displaying any discomfort as I started the first mile of this workout.  I had prepared with 30 minutes of heat, my compression sleeves and nylon tights covering my hamstrings.   All of this felt very compressed and comforting.   So the first mile was 12 minutes.  I stripped down and set out to do a few CQ miles before darkness encompassed  the track. The first was at 9:48 and the second was at 8:37.   I could not be unhappy with either of those.   As usual after a full 30 minutes of solid movement I was completely open and relaxed.  The darkness descended as I cooled down with a  10 minute comfortable jog.  Total workout was 40 minutes.   I liked it!  

 Rest and cinders do wonders for my legs.

PS- I was going to do 3 but I chickened out because it got too dark on the far side of the track.  I was the only one out there, and it was a little bit spooky. The guy I met last week named Orlando told me that he usually runs at 3 a.m. . Clearly, he is braver than I.

STATS

a.m.HR  – 54BPM

I-Mad  – 3.5

Weight – 153#

SLEEP  – 9.5 hrs

Workout  – 40 minutes ,   3.5 miles  with  2 CQ @ 9:48 & 8:37

April 23rd Saturday 8:30 p.m.

“Tighten Up”     Archie Bell and the Drells 1968

https://youtu.be/uN7vm-k-AaA

Today is the first time since I started running that I actually have tight hamstrings from a workout.  Now I haven’t run hard since the workout I did on Wednesday that I described as a 30- 20-10 workout.  During that workout I ran at Max Speed for 10 seconds 15 separate times.  Now I’ve counted the steps, that’s about 25 – the 30 strides in 10 seconds.  I can honestly say that is the first time I have it ever attempted to run at Max Speed in the last 5 years. The workout was going so well that day I didn’t think much about it.  I just enjoyed it.  So, that was on Wednesday afternoon, Thursday I was at the relay meet and did a recovery in the clubhouse.   Friday I did 4 miles that resulted in my junk miles rant.  Today I woke up just plain tired, all over body tired. I decided to stay off my legs, off the roads and head back to the clubhouse.  I proceeded to complete one hour of moving activities at a very controlled rate. This  consisted of 10 minutes on the bike, 15 minutes on the treadmill, 5 minutes doing an arm weight  series, 20 minutes swimming in the pool and 10 minutes running in the pool.  All of this was very controlled and very slow.  When I arrived home I felt pretty used up but happy that all of my joints and muscles had been in motion.   I guess I will have to designate this as another recovery day where I didn’t do any damage to my body.  But the strangest thing of all was that in each of these efforts biking, running on the treadmill , and swimming I could feel that soreness in my    hamstrings,   very very unusual event.  Then it occurred to me that I may have been experiencing RDOMS!  (Really Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness )  Ha Ha .    15 x 25 strides at Max Speed = almost 400 strides.  @ 4ft per stride that is almost 1/4 mile at Max Speed.   That = tight hamstrings!

I must remember to watch for those PIZ moments.

There will be an update tomorrow.

STATS

I-Mad  – 3.5

a.m. HR –  55BPM

Sleep – 9 hours

Weight  – 153#

Workout – 1hr of movement @ FSML Clubhouse

• April 22nd,    Friday,      9 p.m.

Today’s run consisted of 4 of what many would consider junk miles. (4 miles in 50 minutes and 36 seconds) Now many very successful coaches at high school, college and elite level have suggested that junk miles are a waste of time .  They claim there is no physiological advantage gained by running slow miles.  I  believe as a + 70 Runner that there are a number of advantages to slow miles.  For the purposes of my age and fitness level, I’m going to define junk miles as anything slower than 12 minutes per mile. That  is 2 minutes slower per mile than my Comfortable Quality miles and 4 minutes slower than what I hope to be my 5K race pace..   However, I can think of four areas in which  so-called junk miles can be positive for me.

• Bone building –  (4 miles = about 7,000 foot strikes )  I have read studies that conclude that humans are able to continue to build stronger bones through the 70s if they continue to stimulate bone growth by foot strikes. Every time the foot strikes the ground a message is sent to the bone to generate stronger and thicker bone marrow in the core. This is why seniors are constantly being told by those who are supposed to know that they should be continuing to walk into the seventies and eighties and nineties. So 7,000 additional strikes can have positive effect if it does not lead to something negative like a bone fracture .

• Aerobic strength –  Even 12:00 miles raise my heart rate and keep it in a raised state, as today for 50 minutes. This is clearly an advantage and a benefit for my aerobic conditioning.

• Toughness –  the only reason I would have for running miles slower than 12 minutes would be because my legs were heavy a sore at the start of the Run. But to continue to run through a little discomfort or even significant discomfort I think builds a little mental  callusing.  That allows me to run through some of the hard times when I’m doing a quicker workout or during a tough patch in a race.

• Confidence – I am constantly amazed at the way my body is capable of responding on days when it seems like I have no resources.  After the first two miles in twenty six and a half minutes today, my body began to feel loose and comfortable and finally relaxed.  Each mile was getting a little quicker.  I don’t know where those reserves come from, but it gives me great confidence to know that they’re in there.  The last two miles in 23 minutes would actually not even qualify as junk by the definition above.  So, I guess the final benefit is that even slow miles on tough days add to my confidence.

Most likely you will catch me out on the road still running those slow miles some day in the future.

• STATS –

I-MAD – 3. 5

a.m.HR  –   52

WEIGHT  – 153# a.m.   &  151.6#  after run

Sleep  – 8 hours

Workouts  – 4 miles  in 50:36

1 – 14:46  with  walking 1st 5 mins.

2 – 11:44

3 – 11:06

4 – 11:33   Stopped to loosen laces. Tightened up laces at start of run today to feel better support.  At the beginning of mile 4 Achilles tendon started talking to me. So I stopped to loosen laces and that seem to relieve the discomfort. Still working on that laces thing . Loser laces seem to have a positive effect on the whole food area. This surprises me because most of my life I have laced my running shoes quite snugly.

Heat pre & ice and chocolate milk post + My green tea and tart cherry juice cocktail     —  Yummmm!

• April 21st,  Thursday,      10 p.m.

• “Put me in, Coach.”

I caught up with some old friends at the Somerset County relay championships at Ridge High School this afternoon.  The day was beautiful and sunny and about 70 degrees, perfect for a spring track meet.   Arlene and I traveled to Basking Ridge for the afternoon event.  Coaching and watching relay meets has always been the most enjoyable part of the track experience for me.  Something is going on at every moment in 10 different places throughout the facility.  It is always exciting to watch athletes doing it for the team.  The competition is always fierce,  and everybody wants to be in the game participating. These are the meets wherein athletes have to dig deep, running those doubles and triples and sometimes quadruples. Nothing can make a coach prouder  than hearing a nearly exhausted runner plead, “Put me in, Coach, I’m ready to go.”

I was happy to see my friend Jimmy O’Connor looking and feeling well and his son, both coaching the jumps of course at Ridge High School.  I got to speak for a while with Coach Jim McCluskey an old rival and good friend.  With Jim O’Connor as my assistant in the 1990s we put together some of the best track teams ever seen in Central Jersey.  At the same time we were battling tooth and nail with Jim McCluskey’s Franklin High School teams that were equal or better during that entire period. Both of those teams provided some of the best performers ever to come out of track and field in central New Jersey.  It was good to see those guys again.

I spent a few minutes with my old coaching mates at Hillsborough Eric, Tierra and Rich.  All were very excited about the team’s prospects for the day and their performances so far this year.  Everybody is getting ready to go to Penn Relays next weekend.  The competition for the team title was very hot in both the boys and girls division. When I left the titles had not yet been decided, but both were very close.

After returning home I headed over to the clubhouse to get in a little work. The pool is open until 9 p.m. on Thursdays so  I was able to swim for 20 minutes. My swim routine is to swim alternating laps of Australian crawl, backstroke and breaststroke.  Tonight the swimming was a little rough because it has been a while and, I was pretty tired by the time I got to the 20 minute mark.  It was still a good aerobic 20 minutes.  Next I went to the deep end with my noodle under my arms and ran very controlled full extension strides for 10 minutes.  (Exaggerated back kick,  to exaggerated  knee lift,  to full lower leg extension ) I find that I can only perform this totally fully extended stride in the pool and I very much enjoy doing it.   Next into the whirlpool for 15 minutes to heat up my sore foot and my tender Achilles tendons.

• Not a very demanding workout but 30 minutes of full body movement with the absence of any impact.

My idea of a perfect recovery for a

+ 70 Runner.

Stats

a.m.HR – 54BPM

I-Mad –  2.5

Weight  – 153#

SLEEP – 9 hours

Workout  – 30 minutes  in pool—-20 swim , 10 run